Chapter Three – Leaving
She opened the screen door of the small, three bedroom house and shivered, the crisp morning air made Anny’s hair begin to frizz. Looking around, she noticed many work trucks, bulldozers, and a cane. She spotted Chase talking to a construction worker.
“Chase!” Anny called to her black-haired brother. “What’s going on here?” She questioned.
Chase looked up at his younger sister. “Hey girly, oh, I forgot to mention… we bought 200 acres!!”
Anny’s draw dropped. Stunned, and amazed, she ran to her brother and jumped in his arms, hugging him. She was so excited for him! Knowing his dream was to raise cattle, and own cattle horses, this meant it finally was coming true!!
The two chatted briefly before Anny asked him to drive her home, so she could get her stuff and move in. She decided since they would have enough room, they all could live together. Eventually, Anny figured she would build somewhere on the back of that land, and have her own operations alongside Chase’s. Ecstatically hugging and talking, she then rushed inside to tell Skipper.
Skipper was unaware of the new and jumped up, grabbing Anny up in her arms, hugging her with tears of joy streaming down her face. Tom and Carly overheard the news, and it turned into a major hug-fest. The whole family was jittery with the news, and decided to get Anny’s stuff, and move everything today, and celebrate by having a huge go-out dinner.

While Carly, Tom, and Skipper were loading up into the truck, Anny looked for Lei.
“Lei?! Lei! Here girl!!”
No response and Anny began to panic. Chase heard Anny’s stress, and began frantically searching. He found the dog under the small white house. Lei had given birth to a single pup. He was a white, little guy. Anny was amazed, and confused. She was.. Disappointed in herself. The result of a white pup is massive inbreeding. How could she of done this? She got a water bowl for Lei before getting in the truck and leaving for her former “Home”.

The 4x4 pulled up onto the driveway. The garage was closed, the blinds were shut, and the outside air was still. Anny keyed in the code to the garage door, and as it open, she fell to her knee, tears scolding her eyes. Her truck had the windows smashed out, and one of the tires popped. The paint was scratched off, and spray painted on the side in red was ‘SKANK *****’. She knew Wade had done this. The door to the house opened, the brunette jumped, her mother stood in the doorway, eyes puffy and red.
“Baby, I’m so sorry. He, he shouldn’t of..” Lacey’s voice cracked while tears slid down her pale cheeks.

“Mom..” Anny said, rushing to her mother’s arms.
The two had a long silence as they held one another in each other’s arms. Tom coughed, and the two snapped the necks to his direction. He suggested they get her stuff. Lacey cried again, hearing her baby was leaving. Skipper came to her mother’s side and hugged her, Carly too. Chase kissed his mom’s head before everyone went inside and began to load up Chase’s truck.

Anny went to the kennels, and shrieked as she saw the empty and open cages. Only a few dogs remained. The two pups, Kaylie, Sin, and Rain, she now only had 6/11 of her original dogs. 5 were taken, to God knows where. Hatred filled Anny’s insides. HER dogs were gone. HER truck was ruined. HER life was miserable, all because of Wade. She had taken too much crap from him for too many years. She vowed, right then and there, she would hurt him the way he hurt her.
The 18 year old whipped out her phone a violently sent Chad a text.

Anny: Can you change a flat tire?

Chad: Yeah, duhhh. I can do almost anything to fix a truck!

Anny: Lemme send you a pic..hold on

Anny sent a picture of her demolished truck. She patiently waited for a reply.

Chad: Holy sh!t, girl, what happened?!

Anny: Wade threw a famous temper-tantrum. Last time he went off like this, my parrot died. And my ferret.

Chad: What else did he do?

Anny: He got rid of 5..yes 5 of my Dobermans. The champion show ring dogs. *cries*

Anny melted where she stood, so many emotions in just a few minutes. Things were so.. Bipolar. She ran inside to help move out.
Upstairs everyone was moving the mattress out, and taking the dresser drawers out. Anny got a box and filled it with clothes. After all the clothes were packed, she moved onto her makeup, hair stuff, skin treatments, lotions, and shampoo’s. Everything was packed tight. Tom moved the TV out while Chase carried boxes out with Skipper and Carly. Lacey leaned against a wall in the hallway, still crying.
“Mom, it’s ok. It’ll be ok, I promise. Stop crying, please.”
“Anny, baby, you’re leaving, and that monster is going to be alone with me.”
“Kick his ungrateful ass out!”
“He’ll come back..” Lacey said her voice cracked.
“Momma, be strong. Chase, Skipper, Tom & I will always let you in, promise. “
“I love you, Anny.”
“I love you too, mom.”
The two hugged once again, before a chorus of barking filled the silent summer air. Looking out to the drive-way, Chad slammed the door of his silver Nissan Titan. He waved to the family before walking inside. He shook Chase’s hand, then Tom’s. He introduced himself, before asking Anny to come out to the truck with him. The two walked quickly, and closely out to the smashed yellow truck.
“Ehh, this is horrible. Grab a camera and take some pictures.” He said, looking disgusted.
Anny ran inside, and came back out with a Cannon brand camera. She took pictures of all the damage before Chad got to work. He got a jack out of his truck, and quickly replaced the tire. The two then vacuumed out the glass from the interior. After most the damage was cleared, and the only thing that needed to be fixed was the windows, Anny checked to see if the engine would run. It did, perfectly, like it was untouched. She sighed, and went to the kennels, Chad behind her. She let all the dogs out and headed back to her truck, the pack followed, and piled into her vehicle.
“So, do you need anything else, ba-Annerz?” Chad said dazedly
“Hehe, you could help me build a temporary kennel tomorrow.” She said grinning.
“Oh, sure!” he remarked trying to hide his excitement.Anny then told him the news about Chase’s awesome accomplishment. He hugged her and ran off to high-five Chase. Soon, everyone was outside, and Skipper invited Chad to dinner, and Lacey. They

both agreed to be there, and Lacey climbed into the truck with Anny. Everyone departed to the other house.
Upon arriving, Anny pulled Lei and her pup out to boast to her family. Chad immediately fell in love with the pup. He held the tiny, squirmy, white ball of skin in the palm of his hand. Stroking the little guy he asked Anny;
“Ann, can.. Can I buy this little guy?”
Stunned, Anny opened her mouth to say something, but no words came out. After a few moments of stupid noises, she replied;
“Yes! Of course! I will give you a price when he gets older.”
Chad smiled, and hugged her before giving Lei her newborn back. Lei crawled under the house again, sheltering her baby from all the commotion.
Tom carried the mattress into Carly’s room, where Anny would be staying. They unpacked a little before getting ready for dinner. Chad went home, and would meet everyone at the steakhouse. Anny chained the dogs up outside, before she retouched her makeup, and fixed her hair. Skipper was dressing Carly in a cute purple plaid dress. Tom was unable to join his family. He got a call that he would need to make a delivery. (He works for a trucking company). Kissing his wife goodbye, before heading out, he yelled goodbye to the family and left. He would be gone for about a week.
Chase got everyone into the car, all buckled in, they left for the steak house. At dinner, Anny gazed at Chad who wore a baby blue dress shirt, with dark blue and white strips. She know how hot h was. He winked to her, and Anny blushed, and looked away.
Dinner ended, and Anny said
“Hey guys, Chad and I are going to go chill, see ya.” And the two hopped in his truck, and sped away.

In the truck, the two sang along with the radio, talked about fun memories together, and just laughed at each other. Chad slid his hand over the center console, and grasped Anny’s lightly. Butterflies burst in Anny’s stomach. She felt special. He pulled over on a dirt road, leaned over, and kissed her sweetly. She loved the feel of his soft, slightly wet lips against hers.
“Anny, I like you. I like you a lot. A lot a lot. I know how much you’re going through, and life seems pretty hectic for you, but I want you to know, baby, I’m here for you, and I want to be here for you. This may seem like too much… but... Will you be my girlfriend? “ His blue eyes gleamed, filled with hope.
“Oh, Chad… Yes.” Anny replied shyly before leaning over to kiss him again.

From that point on, Anny’s life rushed by quickly. A quick-pen was set up for her dogs, 120+ acres were cleared and grass seed was planted, Tom had been in and out of the house (as usual), Wade was semi-out of the picture, Lacey had taken in Skipper and Carly so Chase and Anny could settle together, and have space. They were still in the process of moving Carly and Skipper out, and Anny in. Chad had gotten a job at the auto-shop, and he fixed Anny’s truck. Lei’s white puppy had been named “Lil Man”, and Chad bought him for $250. He left everything natural on the pup, and had trained him to sit, lay and ‘high-five’. Hank and Olivia had started their obedience training, Prince won $700 at a rodeo, and Gunner won 1t place 3 times in reining. Champ had been shown by Tayloe, and won Reserve Champion. And finally, Anny is taking Wade to court for assault, battery, theft, and destruction of property.
So basically, life was good. Chad and Anny were taking things slow, and they were together daily. Anny had also decided to go to community college and major in Arts. She aspired to be a tattooist.

“Hey Chase!”
“Yeah girly?”
“I’m going to the barn, wanna go?”
“Duhh! Can I ride Gunner again?”
“Only if you don’t tell Chad.” She said with an evil grin.
The two left for the barn, and rode the trails for hours. Racing, and laughing, the two had a bond. Not only a brotherly-sisterly one, but they were true best friends. They loped back to the barn, where Anny put her gelding back, and grabbed her stud as Chase put Gunner away.
Anny tacked up, and went to the ring. She mounted, and wet out on the rail. She straightened her back, looked forward, and pointed her toes out. After walking about twice around the ring, she cut through the diagonal line, at a trot, and did a clover pattern in the corners. She led him with her leg, switching every which way, to make the young stud listen.
She then turned him to the back of the ring, and whoa’d him to a walk. Not too soon after, she asked for a transition to a canter. He did almost on cue, just a few seconds off. He automatically switched to the correct lead, and after two times around in each direction, she lead him up to the outside line of jumps, and made up a course as they went along. After doing a few jumps, she had him walk on the rail, and then threw the reins, and asked for a mad gallop.
The stallion took off, and she scooped up the reins, and leaned forward and urged him faster, and faster, before she shook the reins lightly and he slowed to a very slow canter, then to a trot, and then a halt.

Anny rubbed his neck, and dismounted. She untacked and rinsed the sweaty boy off before turning him out.

Chase had watched her the whole time.
“Ann, you should seriously train horses…” he said encouragingly.
“I would, but, I need my own stable.”
“Baby doll, I have 200 acres, I can spare 70! Plus, we’ll probably buy the cattle operation next door after mom divorces that *******. She should get his money, and we can buy more land, start ranching, and life will get good again. Mom and I can work on the farm, you can train horses, Skipper can be a nurse again, and Tom has a job… And then we won’t have to worry. Your almost 19, you will be November 11th, that’s in 3 weeks. You can decide what you want. Then you won’t have to be at school long, and you can do something you love AND what your good at. Just like me.” He said with a crooked smile.
Anny stood there for a moment, trying to take it all in.
“Next year, maybe, next spring we’ll see.” She answered abruptly.
The two got in the big yellow truck, and headed home.

Hey everyone who's been reading. This is coming along nicely, I may be drawing the cover to it soon! So far (11:48 Eastern Time, 11/28/09) it is 17 pages, and 7,425 words! That's a lot, LOL. I also made a new animal character map for you.

Chapter 5 – Goats?
As the truck pulled into the drive-way of the ‘lil white house with the red shutters, Anny put the parking brake on, and pulled the keys out, she walked up to the door, unlocked it, and came inside, Chase not too far behind her. She went to the computer, and logged on as herself, and looked up 4-H, she wanted to get Carly involved. She looked for a fairly easy animal to handle, Cattle? Noooo, Hogs? Heck no! Sheep, maybe… Goats?... Goats?... Hmm Goats…
She researched goat breeds and found the ‘Boer Goat’, originating from South Africa. This was a primary meat breed to the U.S. and most common. Anny became suddenly interested, not only for Carly, but for herself. She searched and read many pages and decided that she would look for a few for sale. Quickly glancing at the clock, it read “8:26 PM” – almost about a half an hour past dog feeding time. Oh crap! She thought to herself.
She ran outside, and unhitched all the kennel doors. The dogs playful jumped up to the owner, trying to lick her face. Anny herded the dogs into the kitchen and fed their routine. She felt kind of bad for the dogs, the 6 all slept outside, spent the majority outside, and they still worked so hard for her. That night they would start staying inside.
Returning back to her search, Anny looked for goats in her area. She found a place that had many for sale, and some nice-looking goats for sale, under $300. She found three traditional does, two paints, and a solid red with black socks. Altogether, that would be over about $2100. That’s two covers from Champ. She really wanted these does’, and emailed the people;“Hello, I am interested in 6 goats that you have for sale, Cindy, Sasha, Dolly, Twinkle, Star, and I Bite. I was wondering if you had any newborn wethers, and I have about $1500, currently. Could I get them as a package deal? Thanks, Anny”
As the email sent, her phone buzzed. From Chad;

Chad: Hey baby

Anny: Yo

Chad: What are you doing, sexy girl?

Anny: I let the dogs in, I gotta shower, and then I’m gunna make a late dinner for me and Chase, then go to bed.

Chad: Cools. Im just thinking about you

Anny: Thanks sweetie

Chad: Aight, wellll, my family is going to Oregon for a week, I guess Ill see you in a week..

Anny tossed the phone onto the couch, she took a shower, got dressed, and by the time she came back out, it was 9:05 PM. Chase was outside, giving the next week’s plans to the workers. Anny called him in for dinner, as she let the tuna helper sit. She whipped it up in less than 10 minutes. Chase aid goodnight to his workers, and came inside. The two ate, and Anny shared of her goat idea.
“Hmm, girl, I think we’ve found your calling. We’ll try ‘em out… Along with my cattle of course.” He said with food crowded in his mouth.
“Thanks Chase, I think they’ll be fairly easy and its good money once you actually get into it. I saw one buck, 3k, sold. I was amazed. Others have stud fees for $200!! And that’s straw of seaman!!” She said.
“Well doesn’t Champs fee run a rough $1000 for Welsh mares?” Chase asked
“Yes, but he’s imported, and has National Wins under his belt.” She added
“And he cost more to take care of, $500 a month plus vet and farrier. Ridiculous.”
“Well, goats cost less and it’ll be fun! On the side I can train horses to pay for everything. Please please plllleeeeaaasssseee.”
Chase agreed to try them, but she would have to work hard, he told her.
Chase looked stern and said “You will put up the fence, help build the barn, and you will buy all the feed/supplies you need, understood?”
“Yes sir.” Anny said excitedly
They finished their dinner, Chase took a shower, and Anny went to her room, the 6 dogs behind her. She laid extra blankets on the ground for the dogs to lay on. I totally forget I had these guys, I hope I have enough time for everything. Were her last thoughts before she drifted off to sleep, Rain under her feet, and Sinister curled against her stomach.

The next week was planting grass, training the dogs, and missing Chad. Anny felt so alone without him around, but Friday he returned, she met him at the barn.
He stood next to a 13.1 bay mare, with a star and a snip on her muzzle. She has two back socks, ad a beautiful mare. Her forelock was parted over her right eye, and she had a bow on her rump, and a brand new leather halter.
“Happy Anniversary slash Early Birthday!!” He sang

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